Supporters of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) display flags with a portrait of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 17, 2024. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
REUTERS | Published January 10, 2025
ISTANBUL/ANKARA, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Talks aimed at ending a 40-year-old militant conflict have fostered peace hopes in Turkey but the precarious situation of Kurdish forces in Syria and uncertainty about Ankara’s intentions have left many Kurds anxious about the path ahead.
Abdullah Ocalan, jailed head of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, has been cited as indicating a willingness to call on the PKK to lay down arms in a peace process to end the insurgency he launched against NATO-member Turkey in 1984.
The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, stunted development in the mainly Kurdish southeast and caused deep political divisions.
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party met Ocalan in late December and has since held talks with other parties including President Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party (AKP), to discuss Ocalan’s proposal, with both sides describing the talks as “positive”.
Two DEM sources told Reuters the party is now set to visit Ocalan again as soon as Jan. 15 in his prison on northwest Turkey’s Imrali island, where the 75-year-old has been held since 1999. They expect that meeting to yield a concrete plan for peace talks.
“We expect the process to take shape and a clear roadmap to be determined to establish the legal framework in the second meeting with Ocalan,” DEM Party parliamentary group deputy chair Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit told Reuters. DEM is the third-largest party in parliament.
It was unclear what Ocalan would seek in any deal but DEM quoted him as referring to efforts for a “democratic transformation” in Turkey. Kurds have long sought more political and cultural rights, and economic support. DEM also demands Ocalan’s release.
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SOURCE: www.reuters.com
RELATED: Conflict between Turkey and Kurdish groups rises around key dam in northern Syria
A key dam in northern Syria has become a flash point in the conflict between Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed armed groups
A Turkish drone strike hits near protesters demanding an end to the war around the Tishrin Dam, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. Turkish drones and warplanes hovered during the protest, with airstrikes targeting areas near the march route, according to participants and a war monitor. The Health Administration in Kobani reported five civilians killed and 15 injured.
KDH NEWS | Published January 10, 2025
TISHRIN DAM, Syria (AP) — A key dam in northern Syria has become a flash point in the conflict between Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed armed groups, which has intensified in the weeks since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in a lightning offensive.
Over a thousand protesters from Kurdish areas in northeast Syria gathered Wednesday afternoon at the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates River in Aleppo province, a critical source of both water and electricity that has been at the center of clashes.
Protesters called for an end to Turkish airstrikes, which they said are damaging vital infrastructure and endangering civilian lives.
Turkish drones and warplanes remained in the air during the protest, and airstrikes targeted areas near the march route, according to participants and a war monitor. The health administration in Kobani said the strikes killed five civilians and injured 15 others.
Turkey, for its part, accused the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces of using civilians as “human shields” by encouraging them to come to the area of the fighting.
A coalition of Turkish-backed groups in Syria, known as the Syrian National Army, are carrying out attacks to take control of regions near the border with Turkey that are under control of Kurdish groups. Heavy fighting has been reported in areas near the Tishrin Dam, some 90 kilometers (60 miles) east of the city of Aleppo.
“While we were walking in this march, there were about 13 or 14 airstrikes around us,” said Berfin Dumar from Kobani, who joined Wednesday’s protest. “They tried to silence our voices so we wouldn’t be able to protect this dam.”
Farhan Haj Issa, co-chair of the executive council of the Autonomous Administration in Kobani, called for Syria’s new authorities and a U.S.-led coalition that has allied with Kurdish forces in the fight against the Islamic State to help bring about a halt to hostilities.
“After the collapse of the Baath regime, we were supposed to enter a new phase of dialogue and laying foundations to end the crisis,” he said, referring to the ruling party under Assad. “Instead, the Turkish state and its mercenaries have increased instability, added to the crisis, and turned Syria into a haven for those spreading corruption.”
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SOURCE: www.kdhnews.com
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